Secrets Shared
by kaylakaze
Summary: Ruby wants to ask someone out but needs to tell her partner a secret about herself before she does. In the process, Weiss shares something personal that Ruby would never have suspected. WhiteRose. A mostly fluffy conversation. One-shot.


**This is something that got stuck in my head so I had to write it to get it out. Ruby may seem too mature, eloquent, and/or intelligent to many people, but I don't think she's really as immature and inept as many people seem to like writing her.**

* * *

"Um… Weiss? Can we talk for a bit?"

"Not now, Ruby. Can't you see I'm -" Weiss stopped. Something in the brunette's voice made her feel that this was important so she cut off her nearly automatic curt reply. "Sure, Ruby. What do you need?" she asked instead, turning from the stack of notebooks and textbooks on her desk to look at her partner.

Ruby sat down on the edge of the heiress's bed and gestured for Weiss to take a seat with her. The times she'd seen Ruby this serious could be counted on one hand, so Weiss now knew it was important and gave in to the request.

"What's up?" Weiss asked with a note of concern.

"Weiss, you're my best friend and I don't want you to think I've been hiding things from you," Ruby began. "This just wasn't something I was ready to tell anyone except Yang before, but I think I'm ready now."

Weiss encouraged her partner with a slight nod when Ruby met her eyes, seemingly asking if it was okay to continue.

"Well, I'm 16 now and I think I want to start dating."

As Ruby's best friend, even though she denied it every chance she got, she knew that she shouldn't react to such a revelation in any significant way. It was perfectly normal for Ruby to want to date and as her friend, she should be happy that the normally shy girl was wanting to spread her wings. She definitely couldn't let it show that the statement had caused a throbbing pain in her chest.

 _You have to stay strong for Ruby. She's counting on you to be there for her as her BFF,_ Weiss thought. "Oh… uh… that's great, Ruby. It's good that you're wanting to expand your horizons." _Good job, Weiss, you dunce. Really convincing._

"Yeah. Um… well, that's not the whole story. The thing is, there's someone that I like that I've been thinking about asking out. I know it's weird since I'm so much younger than everyone else here."

The throbbing in her chest grew worse and it took considerable will for Weiss to not flee the conversation so that she could run to the bathroom and cry.

"The age difference isn't that much. I'm sure any guy here would feel lucky for you to ask him out. Sure it's unorthodox, but you're a huntress, so you have to go take what you want," Weiss replied with a smile that she didn't feel.

"You called me a child when we started here," Ruby pointed out in a tone that clearly said that she was teasing and had fully forgiven Weiss for her behavior when they first met.

"That… that…," Weiss sputtered before settling on the words she wanted. "I was wrong. While you can be childlike in many ways, that's just part of your charm. When you need to be, you're a strong and capable woman." She felt her face growing hot in embarrassment at paying such a pure compliment to the woman before her.

Ruby seemed equally embarrassed at receiving such a compliment as her face was making an attempt to match the color of her cloak.

"Thank you, Weiss. It means a lot to me for you to say that," Ruby replied sheepishly. "That 'not the whole story' thing is still in effect, though. The thing is the person that I like… um… isn't a guy."

Ruby managed to get the words out and looked down at her hands that were in her lap, afraid to see the look on her best friend's face at such an announcement.

Weiss was fortunate that Ruby had decided to stop looking at her as she wasn't able to keep her surprise from showing on her face. _She likes girls? She likes girls!_ Weiss cheered in her head. _Wait! This is no time for cheering. She said she likes A girl._

"So… um… you like girls?" Weiss asked, failing to keep the surprise out of her voice.

Ruby looked back to the heiress, worried that the question was one of disgust, but seeing only surprise, not disgust on her partner's face. "Yeah. I'm not like Yang though. I don't like guys at all. Well, I've never found any guys attractive or been interested in any, in any case, even when I tried to be, so I guess that means I don't."

 _See! It's girls. Plural girls! Squee!_

"Oh, well, um… I hope you know that I support you one hundred percent and I'm sure Blake will too if you haven't told her yet," Weiss said, doing her best to keep under control.

 _Oh no! That sounded like a conversation closing comment!_ Weiss worried. She was enjoying the intimacy of such a personal conversation and didn't want it to end.

"So, who is the lucky girl that you've got your eye on?" Weiss asked, trying her best to be nonchalant in her questioning.

"Um… I hope it's okay with you, Weiss, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to say yet," Ruby replied somewhat guiltily, feeling that Weiss would be hurt that she was keeping things from her.

"Sure, I understand. I'm sure you at least want to talk about her, though, right? So, without any details that would give her away, what's she like?" Weiss pressed, wanting to keep the younger woman talking.

 _Maybe I can at least find out what it is that she's looking for. That way if things don't work out the way she wants, Ruby will turn her attention to me. Ugh! Weiss! That's a terrible thing to think!_

Ruby lit up at the request. _I can't believe I get the chance to tell Weiss all the things I love about her to her face. It's a dream come true!_ "Oh wow! Where to begin? She's got long beautiful hair that shines like silk. It just begs for you to run your fingers through it."

 _Not like mine, where I have to fight every morning just to make it presentable_ Weiss's inner voice responded.

"Her skin looks so smooth and radiant that you can just tell that it would be so soft to touch."

Weiss felt the constricting scar tissue on her left eye pulling at the flesh around it. _While my face is marred by this ugly disfigurement._

"And, oh my god, she has such a perfect body. Smooth gentle curves and an amazing butt," Ruby said before clamping her hand over her mouth. "Sorry. I was getting carried away," she continued, turning red once again.

Weiss laughed good-naturedly at the comment. "It's okay, Ruby. I understand," she replied with a smile, fighting to hold back tears of self-disgust.

 _While I'm short, flat, and resemble a stick._

"But don't get the wrong idea. It's not just physical. Let's see… she has the voice of an angel. Every time I hear it, I feel my heart melt."

 _Whereas I do nothing but screech like a harpy at her._

"She's brilliant. I'm always impressed with how smart she is."

 _Well, I at least have learned to fake being smart, though it takes a lot of studying._

"She's kind and sweet. No matter how much I screw up, she's always willing to help me back on track."

 _Yeah, not even a chance on that one._

"And she's an amazing fighter. Every time I see her fight, it's almost impossible to look away. She moves with such grace and elegance that it's almost a dance."

 _Well, I'm a good fighter at least, though I fumble around the battlefield half the time forgetting proper technique and just trying to keep my ass from getting bitten off._

"Wow, Ruby. She sounds really amazing," Weiss responded, unable to keep completely away from a dejected tone. _That sounds like Pyrrha. Poor thing. Hasn't she been able to tell that Pyrrha's completely into Jaune? Though I suppose that's good for me. I want Ruby to be happy, but I want to be the one that makes her happy._ "So, uh, I know this may be an obvious question to ask, but do you know if she likes girls, too?"

The question pulled Ruby from her thoughts. Of course, it was a question she had wondered about but didn't know the answer to. She sighed and looked a little crestfallen, "No, I don't. I may just have to find out the hard way."

The two sat in silence for what seemed like a few minutes, though it was probably only thirty seconds.

"What about you, Weiss?"

"Huh?" Weiss responded in a much less than dignified manner as she was pulled from her self-deprecating and self-pitying thoughts.

"I know you liked Neptune and all, but do you like girls, too? I just figured I'd ask since I was telling you about me and all," Ruby said, her voice tapering off at the end as she realized that it was probably very rude of her to ask.

 _That is the million lien question, isn't it?_ Weiss sighed internally.

"Since you trusted me, Ruby, I'm going to trust you, okay?" Weiss asked, her voice getting softer and serious.

Ruby nodded, clearly understanding the gravity of what was about to be said.

"I've never told anyone what I'm about to tell you."

 _Am I really sure I want to tell her? Should I be burdening her with that? Maybe it'll be easier to deal with if I talk about it with my best friend._

"The truth is, Ruby, that I don't know."

Ruby's expression turned into one of confusion. "What do you mean that you don't know. I would think that if you've never been attracted to a girl, you'd know that you aren't, right?"

"That's where it gets complicated. I hope you don't mind if this is a long explanation," Weiss answered.

"I'm enjoying our conversation, so I don't mind at all," Ruby responded, the politeness and sincerity of her words stunning the heiress for a few seconds.

 _She's so amazing._

"Well, I guess the beginning would be about when I was probably twelve. You know that I had private tutors so didn't go to school, but my parents at least were sensible enough to realize that a child needs to socialize with other children. Every couple of weeks there was a 'play date' where the children of many of the upper-class families would spend time together. Anyway, it was around that age that the other girls in the group started talking about the boys in the group, boys they knew outside the group, boys on TV, boy bands, that sort of thing, right?"

Ruby nodded, not wanting to interrupt Weiss by speaking.

"I'm sure you know how they talk? 'This one's cute, that one's not, holding hands, kissing, blah blah blah'."

Ruby giggled, never having expected to hear such words come out of her partner's mouth. When Weiss looked at her, Ruby nodded enthusiastically with a reassuring smile. "I know exactly what you mean, Weiss."

Weiss smiled back. _If only I could make her smile like that all the time._

"Well, the thing was, I didn't have any idea what they were talking about. I'd never thought about holding hands with or kissing anyone. I'd never thought any of the boys were cute. I once tried to talk to my mother about it, but well, you know, so I tried to talk to my nanny about it. She said that I was just a late bloomer and to not worry.

"I took her advice until I turned fourteen. By then, all of the girls I knew had had at least one boyfriend and several had already had sex. I still didn't know what it meant to find someone attractive. By that time, I knew about homosexuality so thought maybe I was gay, but the thing was, I'd never been attracted to the girls either. I never thought they were cute, at least not in the way they meant about the guys. I never fantasized about kissing or other things with them."

Ruby felt her face start to heat up at the mentions of 'sex' and 'other things'. _Get a hold of yourself, Ruby! This is a serious adult conversation. You need to show Weiss that you're worthy of being treated as a mature woman. She's counting on you._

Fortunately for Ruby, Weiss was looking down at her hands, lost in the telling of her story.

"Being the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, by the time I was sixteen, I'd met with almost all of 'The Beautiful People'. You know the ones. Models, actors, performers. The people that seem to be considered the best looking of the best looking. I've met so many of them face-to-face and never felt anything. Don't get me wrong, I know that they're good-looking. I can see that they're beautiful, but to me, they're the same as beautiful architecture or a sunset over the ocean. I appreciate the beauty, but there's no desire.

Weiss felt her face start to warm as she thought about what she'd say next. _Get a hold of yourself, Weiss! This is a serious adult conversation. You can talk about this like a mature woman._

"Um… you know how when you're… um… relieving tension… you probably think about doing things to a beautiful woman or having her do things to you, right?" Weiss asked non-hypothetically, looking over to her partner. She wanted to make sure that her assumptions were correct, having never had this type of discussion with anyone before.

 _Oh god, Weiss! Don't look at me with such a cute blush after asking me something like that!_ Ruby's inner commentary screamed. At least if Weiss was blushing she felt it was okay for her to do the same. She was unable to trust herself with speaking at the moment, though, so she nodded.

 _Oh god, Ruby! Don't look at me like that! This is already hard enough to talk about._

Weiss didn't seem to mind Ruby responding non-vocally as she smiled shyly at the brunette and looked back down at her hands.

"That wasn't the case for me. I was sixteen years old and if I tried to fantasize about someone while… doing that… it actually had the opposite of the desired effect. It didn't matter if it was a person I'd met or a person that I made up from what I thought were supposed to be ideal features.

"At this point in my life, it was clearly not just being a 'late bloomer' and I was afraid. I didn't know what was wrong with me. Teens like myself, young adults, middle-aged people, and even seniors. I met them all, many of whom were clearly objectively beautiful, and none had ever stirred any desire in me. By this time, I'd done some research and knew that there were people that had very peculiar interests."

Weiss took a deep breath, steeling herself for what she was about to reveal next. For her part, Ruby sat in stunned silence, enraptured that Weiss was sharing so much about herself, sorrowful in sympathy for the woman's plight, and excited to hear what was coming next. There was no way that she could have been prepared for what was about to come.

"Like I said, I was afraid. Some of the desires I'd read about sounded too horrendous for me to even contemplate. Fortunately, most of them involved things I was familiar with so I was able to immediately dismiss them. By this time, I'd already dispatched many Grimm and felt nothing, so I knew I wasn't one of _those_ people. I'd been around plants and food and… well, I'm not going to list off all the things I'd read about and was instantly able to dismiss. However, there was one that I hadn't spent time around so I couldn't know how I'd react to it. I was completely terrified that this was my problem and wondered what I would do if it was."

Weiss took another pause to take a deep breath.

"At that time, I realized I'd never been around children much and was terrified that maybe I was a pedophile."

She heard Ruby gasp in shock at the idea. Not wanting to let her partner dwell or the possibility too much and get the wrong idea, Weiss hurriedly continued.

"I was terrified, but at least there was an easy way to find out. I went out shopping, browsed a few crowded toy stores, went to a park where children were playing. I felt nothing. I was so relieved that I almost started crying."

"Phew!" Ruby unconsciously exclaimed, releasing a breath that she didn't know she had been holding. Weiss looked over at her and smiled reassuringly.

"My thoughts exactly. Sorry about having to make you think about such a thing. I only mentioned it so that you understand how low and terrified I was at the time."

Ruby nodded.

"I understand," she said quietly. _Goddammit, woman! Don't scare me like that!_ Ruby thought. _Then again, she did call me a child…. NO! Stop thinking like that right now Ruby Rose!_

"So that's how things were. Fortunately, preparing to come to Beacon, I was so busy that I was able to push it to the back of my mind for a while.

"And then I came here. As I'm pretty sure you've realized, if I never said it before, coming here was the first time I'd even spent time around what would generally be thought of as 'normal people'. I was actually surprised to discover so many beautiful people here. Yang, Blake, Pyrrha, Ren, and even Jaune."

Weiss sensed Ruby's surprised expression and smiled at her.

"Yes, even Jaune. While he has a lot of negatives in the personality department, I can still tell that he's good-looking from an objective standpoint. I think him overhearing me saying something to that effect to you on our first day is what led to his unfortunate infatuation with me."

With the Jaune situation cleared up, Ruby was free to think in more detail about what Weiss had just said. _I noticed that Nora was not on that list. I suppose I'd have to agree. Sure she's cute, but she doesn't really stand up to the others. And I know her personality always rubs Weiss the wrong way._ Ruby felt a frown coming on but quickly stopped it. _I notice she didn't mention me either. I suppose that's to be expected. She thought of me as a child then, and, despite how far our friendship has come, probably still does. Even if I wasn't so plain looking, I'm sure beautiful wouldn't even be close to the list of adjectives she'd come up with to describe me._

"That's beside the point, though," Weiss continued. "What I meant was that I met all these new beautiful people, and still felt no attraction. And these people weren't like the ones I'd met before. These were wonderful, caring people that quickly became the best friends that I'd ever had, and I still felt no attraction.

"Then, one day, after we'd been here about a month, something amazing happened." Weiss smiled at both the memory and at the feelings that she finally was able to feel. "I was walking to class, and one of my friends called me to wait up. When I heard her voice, I felt a flutter in my chest. I had no idea what it was or what it meant. I quickly dismissed it, but it wasn't long until she caused another such feeling. After that, I found myself wanting to be around her and feeling sad when I wasn't. I still didn't really understand it, so I pushed myself to try to not change my behavior at all. You know how… difficult… I was back then, so I continued to treat her in the same cold way, even though every time I did, I felt pain in my chest. Every time I made her frown with my sharp tongue or pout when I turned my back on her felt like an icicle was stabbing me in the heart. As I said, I didn't know what was going on. Part of me was scared, but another part of me was elated at the feelings that I didn't understand. Even the pain brought some joy because it was new."

Weiss paused her story to check if her partner wasn't bored to sleep yet. Ruby was clearly completely absorbed in the story, a gentle, understanding smile on her face, and her eyes watery from listening to her best friend describing what it was like for her to fall in love for the first time.

Weiss turned her attention back to her hands and felt her face start to heat up again. _Should I really say this part? Mature adult conversation. I can do this_ she thought in preparation for the embarrassing admission that she was about to make.

"I realized what it was that I had been feeling when one evening while you three were gone and I was in the bathroom," Weiss took a deep breath, sure that her face was about to start glowing like a stop light, "relieving some tension, she popped into my head and for the first time ever, I actually fantasized about someone in that way. I learned then that the tension that I had been relieving earlier in my life didn't compare at all to the amount of tension that could be relieved when in the right frame of mind."

Weiss, paused, shocked at herself at what she had just admitted, but also proud of herself for being able to discuss such a thing with such confidence and maturity. She looked over to Ruby, wanting to make sure she wasn't angry or disgusted at her for saying such a thing. Ruby was seemingly frozen, her eyes big and her face matching her cloak.

"Oh god, Ruby. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to traumatize you with such images," Weiss said, nearing panic, afraid that she'd said too much.

Ruby was pulled from her fantasies by the panic in Weiss's voice.

"No, no. It's okay, Weiss. There's nothing to worry about. I'm fine. I-i-it's perfectly normal, right? W-w-we all do it, so it's no big deal."

Weiss felt her head go light as her mind sought fantasies of her own conjured by such words from the brunette's mouth. Weiss quickly shook her head to clear her mind.

"Yeah, right, so… anyway, what I was saying was that there's only one person in my entire life that I've ever felt any attraction for at all. I really don't know what's wrong with me, but that's how things are. So when you asked do I like girls, the answer is mostly 'no'. I am attracted to one and only one girl and never have been to any guys. Does that help?" Weiss concluded, smiling to her partner.

"Thank you, Weiss. Thank you for trusting me with something so personal," Ruby replied. She felt like she wanted to cry.

She knew part of the reason was feeling broken-hearted. If Weiss could only be attracted to that one girl, the chances of getting her to be able to be attracted to her too were almost non-existent.

Another part of it was just her being emotionally overwhelmed by the intimacy of the conversation they'd just had. It really did mean the world to her that the woman she loved had just shared something so personal with her.

The last part was sorrow for all the pain that her love had gone through, and how much she would go through again if the girl she liked didn't return her feelings. She knew how afraid she was to tell Weiss how she felt, but, as the saying goes, there's plenty more fish in the sea. She loved Weiss, but knew, at least intellectually if not emotionally, that she'd probably love again if she couldn't be with her. How much worse was it for Weiss when she didn't know if there'd ever be another fish?

"Um… have you told her how you feel?" Ruby asked. "I mean, are you dating her now?"

"You should know my schedule well enough to know that there's been no room for dating," Weiss said teasingly.

"Oh yeah, good point. I guess if you were seeing her, we'd be spending much less time together," Ruby said, the thought making her feel slightly nauseous.

"I'm sure you'd be thrilled to have me not making you study all the time," Weiss said, continuing her tease, but the joviality quickly left her voice. "Maybe if I wasn't taking up all your time, you'd be able to spend more of it with Pyrrha."

Ruby looked at Weiss in confusion, "Pyrrha? What does Pyrrha have to do with anything?"

Weiss looked back equally confused, knowing Ruby well enough to know that the confusion was real and not just a front. "Isn't Pyrrha the girl you like? When you were describing her, it sounded like you were describing Pyrrha."

"Sure, Pyrrha's great and all, but she clearly has a thing for Jaune. If I wasn't already in love and she asked me out, sure, I'd say yes, but I'm not especially interested in her or anything."

"Love? Before you were talking about just liking this girl, but now you're saying you're in love with her?" Weiss asked, the pain in her chest making her snap the question more harshly than she meant. "I-I-I'm sorry, Ruby. I didn't mean to snap. I was just w-w-worried that - that if it was more than just 'liking' her, that it could interfere with your school work."

Ruby was surprised by Weiss's response and confused by her excuse. She wasn't a very good liar, but Ruby always hated to call her out when she tried to hide things.

"It's okay, Weiss. Don't worry. I think my feelings for her are what causes me to strive to be better."

"Oh, okay. That's good then," Weiss replied dejectedly. _Why would I have ever been stupid enough to think that it was a desire to make me happy that caused her to work so hard?_

"Oh, wait. What about Neptune?" Ruby asked, remembering something that she'd wanted to ask about before this conversational tangent.

"Neptune? What about h-?" Weiss stopped, realizing what Ruby meant. "Oh, um. He's an okay friend and all, I guess, but, as I said, I was never attracted to him. The shameful truth is that I mostly just thought of him as a pretty accessory, like a pair of earrings or a necklace."

"And that's why they call you the Ice Queen," Ruby giggled.

"Shut up! At least now I understand how bad that is and can properly feel ashamed for it."

"You're absolutely right, Weiss. Over these past several months you've changed so much. I know you're proud of yourself, and I hope you know that we're all proud of you."

"When did you get so sappy?" Weiss asked, her smile clearly revealing how welcome Ruby's comment was.

"I suppose love will do that to you," Ruby replied.

"So, when are you going to ask out this mystery girl that isn't Pyrrha?"

The question caused Ruby to pause. With all she'd just learned about the woman she loved, she knew it was hopeless to try and that such a confession could do nothing more than damage their friendship. She also suspected, though, that if she said she'd do it later, it'd keep coming up.

"Umm… actually, I think I've decided that I'm not going to," Ruby replied, downcast.

"Wait, what? But you said you're in love with her. If she will make you happy, you have to try," Weiss said. _I should be thrilled but more than anything, I want you to be happy. If she'll make you happy, you should be with her._

"You were right. It would only get in the way of school. School and the team are what I should be focused on right now," Ruby said. "Besides, it was a foolish dream in the first place. I would only embarrass myself."

"Foolish dream? What do you mean by that?"

"I was an idiot to think someone as amazing as her would be able to fall for someone like me."

"Anyone should fall on their knees and thank their lucky stars for someone like you to care about them," Weiss responded in such a vehement tone that Ruby was surprised. She couldn't bear to hear Ruby speak about herself in such a way. "And if they don't, then they're far too foolish to deserve you!"

Weiss clapped her hand over her mouth, only now realizing what she was saying.

"Thanks, Weiss," Ruby said. "You're always so good to me."

"I-I just don't like to hear you talk about yourself that way, that's all," Weiss replied.

"I know. I appreciate that you look out for me," Ruby said, trying to keep the sentimentality of their conversation and not let Weiss become too… Weissy.

Ruby grinned and decided to tease a little herself. "I did notice, though, that I wasn't on the list of all the beautiful new friends you met when you came to Beacon, so you probably were just saying that to make me feel better."

Weiss stopped. She couldn't believe what Ruby had just said. _This is almost a perfect set up. She just said she's going to give up on the other girl and now she's baiting me to point out the flaw in her assessment of that list. Can I really go through with it? I'll never get a chance like this again. This is one of those life-changing decision points. All I have to do is take it. If she gives up on the other girl and realizes that I'm right here for the taking, maybe one day she could learn to love me back. It's too important not to go for. I'm WEISS SCHNEE! I can do this!_

"Actually, Ruby, I think you weren't listening carefully enough."

"Huh?"

Weiss breathed deep, trying to keep her voice steady. "What I said was that those were the new beautiful friends that I didn't have any attraction to."

Now, Ruby may often be absent-minded when dealing with non-combat situations, but she wouldn't be where she was if she wasn't brilliant. It didn't take her long to put two and two together and get…

"I noticed Nora wasn't on that list either," Ruby said her impish grin seemingly trying to tell Weiss that she knew why she wasn't.

Five.

 _Is she saying what I think she's saying? This is far too amazing and wonderful to take any chances. I better make sure. Ohmigod is this a dream? Omigodomigodomigod_ Ruby's brain said to her.

No, it's four. She got four.

Weiss looked at Ruby in shocked silence, unable to understand how Ruby didn't get what she was saying. _Regardless, she is right. Nora wasn't on the list either, so I just need to clear that up. No big deal. This is still happening._

"Well, uh… I don't want to be mean or anything but… um, I don't exactly consider Nora one of the beautiful people I met. I mean she's cute, I guess, and she's nice and all, but now that I think about it, I'm not even sure if we've ever spoken directly to each other, and we've definitely never spent time together outside of our groups. I think her personality just clashes too much with mine. You know what I mean?" Weiss asked, hoping Ruby didn't think she was being too mean.

Ruby nodded. "Yep. I thought the exact same thing when I noticed she wasn't on the list. Which leaves one question."

Weiss knew what that question was but was quickly running out of willpower. Her natural shyness about anything personal was starting to take back over and she felt her face getting hot. Normally this is when she'd use… assertiveness… to cover it, but she knew this was not the time for that.

 _Oh my god! She looks so cute when she's turning red and looking bashful! This is normally when she'd explode so it's such a rare thing to see her like this instead. The fact that she's not exploding means she wants me to push it out of her just as much as I want to hear it from her. Oh my god!_ Ruby's mind screamed in glee.

 _I can't believe this! She's doing this on purpose! She's playing with me! Wait. If she's playing with me, that means she expects what I'm going to say. Ruby's not cruel. If she knows what I'm going to say, she wouldn't tease me about it only to hurt me at the end. So what does it mean? She knows that I'm in love with her and is willing to accept me? Even after everything I've done to her? Even though she loves someone else, she's willing to try for my sake?_

"So, then," Ruby continued with an impish grin, "why am I not on the list?"

 _This is it, Weiss. This is the money shot. Ew! Why did I think that phrase? One sentence. That's all you need. One short sentence and a better life is within your grasp!_

"Because it's you," Weiss said quietly.

"What was that?" Ruby asked, looking like a wolf that had finally cornered her dinner. "I wasn't quite able to hear you."

 _I'm going to kill her. I'm going to tell her that I love her, and then I'm going to run Myrtenaster straight through her._

"Because you're the one I'm in love with, you dolt! " Weiss snapped at the grinning reaper, having reached her limit.

Before she knew what was happening, the wolf pounced. She was suddenly enclosed in a tight, rose-scented embrace. She felt Ruby's breaths on her neck. She felt her body heat increasing until she realized that the breaths were hitched and the younger huntress was shaking.

 _What's going on? Is she crying? Did I misunderstand? Did she not know what I was about to say? Oh my god, she's upset. I've ruined everything._

Weiss felt her own tears start to flow as she put her arms around her partner and started rubbing her back to try to calm her down. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she pleaded desperately over and over.

Hearing her words and the distress in her voice, it didn't take Ruby long to realize the misunderstanding. _I need to clear this up immediately. No time for many words or nuance._

Ruby breathed deep, making sure she'd be able to talk loud enough for Weiss to hear her. "I've never been so happy," Ruby said into her partner's neck.

Weiss stopped her apologies and pushed Ruby away slightly to gesture that she wanted to talk. Ruby complied, and sat up, her eyes and face red and tear-stained but she had a smile that said she just found the world's largest cookie buffet.

"You're happy?" Weiss asked unsteadily, wanting to verify what she had thought she'd heard.

"I love you, Weiss. I've loved you for so long."

"You love me? But what about the other girl?" Weiss was worried. If Ruby's loyalties could change that much so quickly…

"There never was another girl. I was talking about you the entire time," Ruby answered.

"But all those things you said about her, that's not me at all," Weiss argued.

Ruby looked at her with concern and sincerity. "Everything I was said was about you."

"Ruby Rose! That makes no sense!" Weiss huffed. She was getting upset. She knew Ruby wasn't lying, but she couldn't figure out how to solve the paradox.

Ruby tentatively reached out to the heiress, ran the backs of her fingers across her cheek and cupped her face gently, looking straight into her eyes. Weiss unconsciously nuzzled her palm.

 _Alert. System overload. Fire in central processing. Emergency teams report. Fire in storage bay 12. Emergency teams report._ Weiss heard an electronic female voice saying in her head.

She looked back into the big beautiful silver eyes of her partner. The only eyes she's ever loved. The only eyes she's ever felt lost in. In them, she saw nothing but adoration and honesty.

"Please, explain," Weiss stumbled to get out. "You said she had long beautiful hair that shines like silk. My hair is always getting tangled, and is dull white."

"Your hair is a radiant white like fresh snow that lights up any room you're in. At night, after you let it down, I see it reflect the moonlight as it flows down your back. It looks like a shimmering curtain of pure silver."

"You said she has beautiful skin, but I have this horrible scar."

"Your scar is beautiful. It does nothing to detract from your natural beauty, yet gives you so much character. Before you had it, you probably looked like a beautiful goddess of poetry or music. Now you look like a beautiful and powerful goddess of war. I'll admit that's it's merely personal preference, but I find the latter to be far more appealing. Apart from that, your skin is like the purest porcelain and matches the radiance of your hair."

"Okay, fine. I'll give you a pass on those two," Weiss acquiesced, feeling like she was turning to mush.

"But there's absolutely nothing you said about 'her' body that is accurate to me," Weiss continued her challenge, starting to enjoy the game and trusting Ruby to have a good answer for each question posed.

"I think I was pretty straightforward on that one."

"That doesn't even make sense. How could you even begin to describe this," Weiss gestured to all of her, "as a perfect body."

"Call me biased, but it's yours so it's perfect."

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "You need to do better than that."

"I don't know what else to say about it. I just like the shape of your body. You're petite and lithe and just slightly shorter than me an-"

"I am not shorter than you!"

"And the way you move is just hypnotic."

"You don't think I'm too flat and skinny?" Weiss asked.

"Asked and answered," Ruby replied grinning.

"How can you say you like my voice? All I ever do is shriek at you."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "No, you don't and even when you do, your voice is still music to my ears. Shrieking aside, though, every sound, from your giggle to your shy whisper to your joyous shout are all wonderfully melodic. Plus, we can sometimes hear you when you're singing in the shower."

Weiss felt her face grow hot with embarrassment.

"When did you get so good with words? Who are you and what did you do with Ruby?"

"I guess you've just been rubbing off on me, and it's important that I get this right, so I'm just thinking 'How would Weiss say this?'" Ruby answered grinning. "Besides, I've dreamt of this moment for so long. I've had time to come up with the words."

"Well, I can't say that I don't like you like this," Weiss smiled before clearing her throat. "Moving on. Brilliant. Okay, that's obvious."

"I won't even pretend that that's an overly arrogant thing for you to say," Ruby laughed.

"Hmph," Weiss huffed. "It's not arrogance if it's true."

"Well, I don't know if that's always true, but in this case, I think it's fair to say that it's just stating the obvious."

"Good answer. Now, next one. Nice and sweet. We both know that's not me."

"Were you taking notes? What is this?"

"I-it was important to me so I made sure to remember every word you said," Weiss answered sheepishly.

"Okay. Well, sure, you come off cold and harsh to people that don't know you, but I've seen the real you time and time again. When you're cold it's because you're vulnerable and trying to protect yourself. When you're harsh it's because you want to push me to be a better me. And I've made mistake after mistake after mistake and even now, you're still here by my side, pushing and loving me so that I can do a better job in the future."

"Oh, um… that's really sweet, Ruby," Weiss responded, not used to having words touch her so emotionally. "Ummm okay. I suppose to your mind you were describing me earlier. You win." Weiss smiled at her partner.

"Phew! Really? What did I win?" Ruby grinned back slyly.

"Hmmm… I've got an idea."

"Yeah?" Ruby questioned.

"Ruby Rose, will you be my girlfriend?" Weiss said in an official manner.

"Nothing would make me happier," Ruby answered.

The two partners leaned into each other and sealed the agreement with a short kiss.

"Now that I think about it, though, being your girlfriend while having a plate of cookies could make me happier," Ruby said.

"You are such a dolt," Weiss said smiling at her new girlfriend.

"Yeah," Ruby agreed, lacing her fingers together with her partner's. "But I'm your dolt now."

…

…

…

…

…

Ruby giggled.

"What?" Weiss asked.

"You said that you think about me when you masturbate," Ruby said with a huge grin.

"RUBY!"


End file.
